Net Neutrality

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Net Neutrality

What’s That?

Now you might be asking, what is Net Neutrality? Honestly I didn’t know until I looked into it. Here is what I got.

Net Neutrality is the basic, elementary principal that all internet providers like Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast treat all data the same. Basically it prohibits them from speeding up, slowing down, or blocking certain sites. This is how the internet is working normally. Fair and equal.

Losing Net Neutrality can be a big deal, no scratch that, a HUGE deal. The open internet has paved the way for many people to speak out and be creative or inventive. Cable or phone companies would be able to decide which companies have faster connections to the buyer. This is very bad for small businesses and upstarts.

“

There can be no truly open internet without net neutrality. To believe otherwise is to be captive to special interest power brokers or to an old and discredited ideology that thinks monopoly and not government oversight best serves the nation.”

— Interviewed by The Nation, former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said

Corporations would be able to hold information about their product. It would be difficult to start a blog or news site because the companies can block or slow down your site. You would have to pay for certain sites. No more memes on Instagram or videos on Youtube unless you paid for the social media package that would probably cost a million dollars on top of the bill you have now.

Now we have gone over the rules, let’s take a look at the ISPS. The ISPS, internet service providers, appealed back in 2014 to take away net neutrality. Lucky the FCC ruled in favor of it. In turn it ignited a huge fire with the FCC and the ISPS. The ISPS sued them to overturn regulations and that it was unfair for them to try and “hurt their business.

Jumping back to January of 2017 another war drum can be heard in the distance. The Trump administration newly appointed FCC Ajit Varadaraj Pai said he wanted to change and modernize the FCC to “match the reality of the modern marketplace.

Many are urging to protect Net Neutrality. A protest organization called Team Internet is urging people to send this email to representatives

“I urge you to stop the FCC’s plan to end net neutrality *before* the FCC’s December 14th vote.

I don’t want ISPs to have the power to block websites, slow them down, give some sites an advantage over others, split the Internet into “fast lanes” for companies that pay and “slow lanes” for the rest, or force me to buy special “tiers” to access the sites and services I choose. But that’s exactly what the FCC plan would do. Please read it:

Blocking & throttling by ISPs is a serious problem. Comcast has throttled Netflix, AT&T blocked FaceTime, Time Warner Cable throttled the popular game League of Legends, and Verizon admitted it will introduce fast lanes for sites that pay-and slow lanes for everyone else-if the FCC lifts the rules. This hurts consumers and businesses large and small.

If some companies can pay ISPs to have their content load faster, startups and small businesses that can’t pay those fees won’t be able to compete. This will kill the open marketplace that has enabled millions of small businesses and created America’s 5 most valuable companies. Without strong net neutrality protections, Internet providers will effectively be able to impose a tax on every sector of the American economy.

Moreover, under Chairman Pai’s plan, ISPs will be able to make it more difficult to access political speech that they don’t like. They’ll be able to charge fees for website delivery that would make it harder for blogs, nonprofits, artists, an

d others who can’t pay up to have their voices heard.

If the FCC passes their current order, every Internet user and business in this country will be unprotected from abuse by Internet providers, and the consequences will be dire. Please publicly support net neutrality protections by denouncing the FCC’s current plan. Do whatever you can to stop Chairman Pai, to ensure that businesses and Internet users remain protected.